30 Days Wild:Day 25 - From Pembrokeshire To Powys

                                                             











  On the morning of day 25 of 30 Days Wild we sadly left Pembrokeshire and our garden of Badgers and Foxes and headed a couple of hours north up to Rhayader, Powys.
 A quick stop in Builth Wells for shopping and lunch and then we continued up to are accommodation at Gigrin Farm Red Kite Feeding Station in Rhayader.
River Wye at Builth Wells

  On approach to Rhayader the hillside was already awash with gliding Kites.

  We were staying in the Pod at the farm and could watch the Red Kites glide over quite happily.The Red Kite Conservation story is probably the most successful reintroductions in the UK, started in 1989 and b y the mid 1990's they were over 100 breeding pairs in Wales alone and now over 2700 pairs in the UK.

  As well as Red Kites there were also other birds to be seen around the farm with House Martins, Swallows, House Sparrows, Siskins, Redstarts, Nuthatches and the resident Peacocks.
Peacock admiring himself.

  Peahen with chicks.

  Nuthatch

  There are a few Red Kite feeding stations around the UK besides Gigrin Farm which is probably the most famous one.There is also Argaty near Stirling and Bellymack Farm in Dumfries & Galloway and RSPB Tollie, nr Dingwall (all in Scotland) and Nant Yr Arian also in Mid-Wales.

  Get to one nearest you to see these spectacular Birds of Prey close up.

30 Days Wild:Day 24 - Life After Dusk

                                         











  I didn't do much during today as had to start packing things away as it was our last day in Pembrokeshire but we did pop to Tenby for lunch and a quick walk along the beach.

        
  The main action of Day 24 happened after dark.The Moth trap and the trail camera were both set up.
A few more new moths for the week.
Brown China Mark

Gold Swift

Lackey

  Checking the SD card from my trail camera it was found to contain 38 film files, all between 11.50pm and 1.20am so I knew it wasn't just the Magpies eating the food in the morning.
  The young Fox had reappeared in the garden after spotting him in daylight the day before.

A Badger was also filmed numerous times sweeping up the peanuts and jam.

I think my Badger Spy Cam got rumbled ;)

  A great end to a fantastic week in Pembrokeshire and I have to say a massive Thank You to John and Carol for allowing us to shine a bright Moth Trap in their garden and leave food on the lawn for the Badgers which I know dig up his garden lol.

  Up to Gigrin Farm, Rhayader next and the Red Kites :)

30 Days Wild: Day 23 - Day On Puffin Central

                                                               

                                                         
  After rechecking the weather numerous times during the week we finally decided that Day 23 would be the best bet to get on the boat over to Skomer Island.We set off early, arriving just before 7am and so had a 90 minute queue for the lodge to open, then another 90 minute wait after purchasing our tickets til our boat left Martin's Haven for the short trip over to Skomer.
  Before you even land you have Guillemots , Razorbills and of course Puffins whizzing past the boat or scurrying on the Sea surface to escape the boat's path.After the long walk up the steps and a talk about the Island from the Warden we set off down the trail.
 View out from Skomer.

  Like the majority of people , we headed over to The Wick, probably the best place to see Puffins(as well as at the top of the landing steps).
  It is an amazing experience to be within a few yards of these stunning little Auks.

  Sorry about that I got carried away with Puffin photos, but you still did get away a bit on the light side as I could've posted twice as many ;)

  After spending time with the Puffins we headed for the nearest benches for a bit of lunch and then unfortunately my Arthritic pain in my feet started working overtime and became very painful.This prevented us from walking further around the island so we had a very slow walk back to the farm stopping along the way at the Mere hide to watch Oystercatchers battle with Gulls.
Gull chick

  Lesser Black-backed Gulls getting too close to the juvenile Oystercatchers so needed a quick chase off.

  The Gulls also fought each other with this Herring Gull trying its best to tear the wing off the Lesser Black-backed gull.It actually dragged it by the wing about 5 feet before letting go.

  With my feet burning we started back to the boat far earlier than planned but spent the time photographing Razorbills, Guillemots and a Skomer Rabbit.
Razorbills

Guillemots "Ooooh yes, that's the spot!"

 Skomer Rabbit

  The boat left back for the Pembrokeshire mainland at 3pm and we were seen off by diving Gannets and then spent a few minutes watching these young Swallows in their nest in the Skomer information centre before heading back home.

I hope you enjoyed browsing the photos as much as I did taking them ;)
Thanks again for reading my blogs.